Unwell water: Frequently asked questions

Tuesday

What's going on with the well water in Horsham, Warminster and Warrington?

Q: WHAT'S GOING ON?

2014: In summer 2014, unregulated chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were found in public drinking water wells in Horsham, Warminster and Warrington.

They were found by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, as part of a nationwide testing program called the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. Every water system in the country serving more than 10,000 people was tested for the chemicals, most of them for the first time.

The amounts of PFOA and PFOS found in the public wells in the area were among the 10 highest samples anywhere in the country.

Eight public wells were shut down because the chemicals were found in amounts greater than what was then recommended by a now outdated provisional health advisory set by the EPA: 400 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA, and 200 ppt for PFOS.

PFOA was also found at approximately 210 ppt in a public well in Doylestown Township, but no action was taken because it was below the 400 ppt limit that was then recommended, officials said.

The military took responsibility for the well contamination in Horsham, Warrington, and Warminster. It had been investigating the presence of PFOA and PFOS in the environment at the former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, and active Horsham Air Guard Station, since at least 2011.

The chemicals are suspected to have originated in firefighting foams used at those bases since the early 1970s.

The Navy and National Guard Bureau began paying for private wells in the area to be tested. Public meetings were held and were attended by hundreds of residents.

2015: The military agreed to pay approximately $19 million to install filtration systems on public wells, pay for replacement water from neighboring water systems, provide bottled water to residents with contaminated private wells, and hook their homes into public systems. About 80 private wells were ultimately found to be contaminated.

2016: In late February 2016, this news organization began reporting on local residents who were concerned that the chemicals may have affected their health.

In early March, state Reps. Todd Stephens and Bernie O'Neill called on the military to provide health screenings for area residents, while Pennsylvania Congressmen Mike Fitzpatrick, Patrick Meehan and Brendan Boyle issued a letter to the Navy asking questions about how the military handled its investigation of the chemical taint.

Pressure from lawmakers continued to build, including from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. Many pressured the EPA to release an updated, lifetime health advisory for the chemicals. The provisional limits used to gauge action in 2014 were short-term, meaning they were only designed to protect against exposure over several weeks.

In May, the EPA released its updated, lifetime health advisory, which lowered the amount of the chemicals considered safe to 70 ppt combined. That amount is as much as eight times lower than the amount previously considered safe to drink.

Because of the lower limit, the number of contaminated wells in the area nearly tripled from eight to 22 public wells, and from approximately 80 to 150 private wells.

A few days after the EPA's new advisory level was released, more than a thousand concerned residents attended a pair of community information meetings hosted by the Navy.

In the spring, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Pennsylvania Department of Health both said they'd study state cancer data to determine if there are unusually high rates of illness in the affected zip codes around the bases. Resulting analysis so far found some evidence of increased cancer rates in the area but was ultimately deemed inconclusive. More analysis by the PADOH is said to be on the way.

Due to the new EPA advisory, the Doylestown Township well that was previously considered safe was now above the recommended limit, forcing its closure. The state Department of Environmental Protection began testing all drinking water wells within 1 mile of that well, and is leading the investigation into potential sources of the contamination.

In early June, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued a letter to the secretaries of the Navy and Air Force, calling on the military to fund blood tests for nearly 70,000 residents of Horsham, Warminster and Warrington. The military has declined to fund such studies, citing the ATSDR's recommendations.

Local congressmen tried unsuccessfully to insert funding for health studies for area residents into the annual Department of Defense budget process. They're working on creating independent legislation authorizing money for those studies.

Four lawsuits, seeking class action status, were filed against manufacturers of the firefighting foam or the Navy.

One of the firms, a New York City law firm associated with activist Erin Brockovich, held a community meeting at Upper Moreland High School. The firm's representatives handed out more than 500 retainers as part of their suit.

Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington have all initiated plans to remove the chemicals from drinking water to below 1 ppt. Warminster completed the transition in early autumn, while Horsham anticipates reaching that level by the end of 2016. Warrington is further behind.

This news organization continues to investigate the extent and impact of the contamination, and has found PFOS and PFOA are widespread throughout portions of the county, although typically in amounts well below the 70 ppt EPA limit.

2017: In early February, we published a “how to” guide for local residents who want to have their blood tested for PFOA and PFOS.

Also in early February, another lawsuit was filed, bringing the total to seven. Those suits, combined, are seeking millions of dollars in awards, health studies, blood testing, and other awards for thousands of area residents.

Bucks Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick announced he's preparing a bill that could force the military to pay for a health study.

PA Senator Bob Casey announced he was able to insert language into the annual military funding bill that would require the DoD to deliver a PFC report to congress. If it survives the annual budgeting process, it would require the Secretary of Defense to deliver the nationwide report within 120 days.

In late February, a Norristown law firm announced it was intending to file a mass tort of personal injury claims for more than 450 past and present residents who believe the chemicals may have caused their illnesses.

Q: WHAT AREAS ARE AFFECTED?

Drinking water above the EPA's recommended PFOS and PFOA limit (70 parts per trillion combined) has only been found in public wells belonging to the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority, the Warrington Township Water and Sewer Department, the Warminster Municipal Authority, the Doylestown Township Municipal Authority, the East Rockhill water system (owned and operated by the North Penn Water Authority) and the Hatboro and Chalfont water systems (owned and operated by Aqua PA), as well as wells serving military members on the Horsham Air Guard Station and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Amounts of the chemicals, typically well below the 70-ppt recommended limit, have also been found in public or private wells in Abington, Bristol Township and Borough, Buckingham, Doylestown Borough, Ivyland, Northampton, Plumstead (in a previously closed public well), Upper Dublin, Upper Southampton and Warwick (a few private wells only), as well as at Aqua Pennsylvania's Neshaminy treatment plant, which pulls about 11 million gallons of drinking water a day from the Neshaminy Creek.

The military continues to sample private wells in the Horsham and Warminster areas. The DEP is sampling wells in the Doylestown Township area, but hasn't released results yet. About 200 private wells have been found above the 70-ppt limit to date, and at least 100 more have been shown to contain the chemicals below that threshold. The large majority of all those wells are in Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington, with a handful in neighboring communities.

Water in area public systems comes primarily from a series of groundwater wells. It's a complex system in which some wells produce more water than others, and ultimately, water from different wells combines in the distribution system, officials have explained.

It can be reasonably expected that all customers of the water systems with PFOS/PFOA received some percentage of their water from the contaminated wells. How much of the chemicals reached a given customer's tap would have depended on the person's location in the distribution system, the direction of flow of the water system, and the amount of water taken from each well, which changes over time, officials have said.

The exception is Doylestown Township, where water officials said about 200 customers received water from its contaminated Cross Keys well before it was closed.

All area wells above the EPA's 70-ppt recommended limit are now offline, meaning they're not providing water to customers.

The chemicals could be found in more communities as sampling continues. There also could be low levels of PFOS and PFOA in many water supplies that aren't related to the bases, as the chemicals have also been used in a variety of industrial and commercial manufacturing processes.

Q: IS MY WATER SAFE TO DRINK?

In May 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency released a lifetime health advisory level that recommended limiting PFOA and PFOS to 70 parts per trillion (ppt) in drinking water to avoid health effects over a lifetime.

The EPA strongly stands behind its advisory, stating that the 70-ppt limit was created after years of analysis of the latest research on the chemicals. EPA officials have said the 70-ppt limit is protective of the health of all humans, including the most vulnerable -- nursing or expectant mothers, infants, and fetuses.

All public drinking water that is being consumed in Bucks and Eastern Montgomery county is now below the 70-ppt limit, and has been since May 2016.

Some have raised concerns that the 70-ppt limit isn't protective enough. Vermont has set an interim state standard of 25 ppt for the chemicals, less than a third of the EPA's 70-ppt limit.

In September 2016, the New Jersey DEP's Drinking Water Quality Institute released a 14 ppt recommended limit for the chemicals. This news organization investigated the differences between the NJDEP and EPA and found valid concerns about the EPA's 70 ppt limit.

The C8 Science Panel, which produced the largest body of research to date, found health effects after analyzing a population that was exposed to as little as 50 ppt of PFOA.

In June 2015, researchers Philippe Grandjean, of the Harvard School of Public Health, and Richard Clapp, of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, released an analysis stating they believe a safe level of PFOA in drinking water to be approximately 1 ppt for some health effects.

The uncertainty about the health impacts has lead Warminster and Horsham officials to initiate plans to reduce the chemicals in their drinking water to below 1 ppt.

Other local water regulators, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, say they're abiding by the EPA's 70-ppt level.

Approximately 200 private wells in Horsham, Warrington, and Warminster have been found to contain PFOA and PFOS above the 70-ppt limit. At least 100 more private wells have been found to contain the chemicals below that level. The military and DEP are in the process of sampling all private wells they believe the chemicals could have reached. However, that sampling area continues to expand near the bases.

The military is currently investigating PFOS and PFOA contamination at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. As of late winter 2017, the military has found the chemicals above 70 ppt in three private wells, but says it is having trouble getting in touch with the owners of all private wells it wants to investigate. Two wells for military service members were also found to contain more than 200 ppt of the chemicals, but the military says they were primarily used as backup and shutdown..

Q: WHAT HEALTH RISKS DO PFOS AND PFOA POSE?

Research into the health effects of these chemicals is still relatively new; the bulk of the studies that have been conducted have taken place in approximately the past 20 years.

This means little is known definitively. Words such as “probable,” “likely” and “suggestive” are commonly used by regulators and experts when discussing the conclusions of health studies.

Compounding the issue, PFOA has been more thoroughly researched than PFOS. However, PFOS is the contaminant primarily found in higher concentrations in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

According to the American Cancer Society, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classifies PFOA as “possibly carcinogenic to humans … based on limited evidence in humans that it can cause testicular and kidney cancer, and limited evidence in lab animals.”

The American Cancer Society also says: The “EPA's Scientific Advisory Board examined the evidence on PFOA, mainly from studies in lab animals, and stated that there is ‘suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential.' ” That means the EPA doesn't know enough to state definitively that that PFOA causes cancer.

The C8 Science Panel, which produced the largest body of research to date on PFOA, found "probable" health effects after analyzing 70,000 people who were exposed to as little as 50 ppt of PFOA. It found "probable links" between PFOA and people diagnosed with high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

PFOS has been studied less, but the EPA concludes: “There is suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential for PFOS.” The EPA further states: “Although some human studies suggest an association with bladder, colon, and prostate cancer, the literature is inconsistent and some studies are confounded by failure to control for risk factors such as smoking.”

Reproductive issues and negative effects on the immune system have also been associated with the chemicals.

A Nov. 2016 investigation by this news organization explored some of the science behind health studies to date. It found researchers are concerned about a wide range of health effects, particularly to infants, including birth weight, high cholesterol, and other developmental issues.

Q: WHY AM I ONLY LEARNING ABOUT THIS NOW?

PFOA and PFOS are unregulated contaminants, meaning there are no federal rules requiring water authorities to test for them or remove them from drinking water -- unlike contaminants such as lead and arsenic.

The EPA tests for some unregulated contaminants as a part of its Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. This testing, conducted nationwide, found PFOS and PFOA locally in 2014. However, it is now known the chemicals may have been present locally since the 1970s, when firefighting foams began to be used on nearby military bases.

Affected water authorities took action in 2014: Eight public wells were closed in Horsham, Warminster and Warrington after the chemicals were detected above the limit recommended by a provisional federal health advisory. The military also began sampling nearby private wells for the chemicals, eventually finding more than 80 to be contaminated.

Local contamination has been discussed publicly since the chemicals were found in summer 2014. In 2014, the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority and Warrington Water and Sewer Department issued letters to customers, and the Warminster wrote to private well owners.

Public information meetings were held — and well attended — in 2014.

Public interest was renewed in 2016 after this news organization began investigating the contamination and its potential health effects.

Local knowledge of the chemicals also grew after the EPA released a new, stricter health advisory in May, and the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm held a community meeting in Upper Moreland in June 2016.

Q: HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?

In the U.S., regulatory laws (namely the Toxic Substances Control Act) have traditionally allowed most industrial chemicals to enter the market before their safety is proven. This is a different standard than exists for other products, such as drugs or cosmetics.

That could be changing. In 2016, former President Barack Obama signed a bill updating the Toxic Substances Control Act. It will set up a fund — paid for by chemical industry — to pay for the investigation of unregulated chemicals. It also requires the Environmental Protection Agency to identify and protect susceptible populations and identify chemicals with the most potential to be toxic and evaluate the risk they pose. Early reports indicate the TSCA was slowing the rate of chemical approvals, but some are concerned that the act will not survive a push for deregulation under President Donald Trump.

More than 80,000 unregulated chemicals exist. PFOA and PFOS — the chemicals that have contaminated water supplies in Bucks and Montgomery — are just two of them.

The EPA has a program to study unregulated contaminants, part of which is the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). It selects about 30 chemicals at a time, and requires every U.S. water supplier serving more than 10,000 people to conduct a one-time sampling program for the chemicals.

That UCMR program is what found local contamination in 2013, 2014, and 2015. PFOA and PFOS were added to the program after concerns about their health effects and prevalence began growing in the 2000s.

Of course, there's the question of how these chemicals got into the local environment. In Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington, the chemicals are suspected to have originated in firefighting foams used at nearby military bases dating back to the 1970s.

The military hasn't denied it's responsible for the contaminants, and has provided at least $19 million to cleanse public and private wells in the area. That figure doesn't include the money the military is spending to investigate and clean up on-base contamination.

Is the military doing enough? Some residents believe they've been sickened by PFOS and PFOA. The military hasn't agreed to pay for any blood tests or health screenings in the area — something residents and lawmakers have been pushing for.

Q: WHAT SHOULD I DO?

For residents of Bucks and Montgomery counties who consume public water, the Environmental Protection Agency and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have said all water that is currently being distributed is safe to drink.

That's because all public water sources containing PFOA or PFOS above the EPA's 70 part per trillion recommended limit are no longer being used for drinking water. Every system serving more than 10,000 people was also sampled for the chemicals by the EPA in 2013 and 2014. The means contamination would have been detected, although there's the possibility the chemicals could be present in smaller systems that haven't been tested.

Some residents who remain concerned about the safety of their water have bought or are looking to buy in-home filtration systems in the hopes of eliminating any amounts of the chemicals from tap water. Standards now exist to certify devices that can effectively filter these chemicals. Residents still should do their own homework to ensure they purchase the correct equipment.

Activated carbon filtration and reverse osmosis are generally regarded as the two technologies that effectively eliminate PFOA and PFOS from drinking water. But those processes are generally found in higher-end models of equipment: most typical water filter pitchers don't contain them.

There are two kinds of in-home filtration systems. Point-of-use devices filter water from a specific tap or in a Brita-style pitcher, while point-of-entry systems are placed on the main water line into the house and filter the water going to all taps.

This news organization previously wrote about some point-of-use filters that have been shown to be effective. We haven't written yet about point-of-entry systems, although many residents on Facebook have shared information about which equipment works best for them.

Some residents, particularly those with private wells, have also paid to independently test their tap water for the chemicals. There are only a handful of laboratories in the country certified to test for the chemicals, although at least one local company sends water to those labs for testing: Analytical Laboratories in Telford (215-723-6466).

Testing typically costs between $200 and $250; results take several weeks to more than a month.

Before paying for tests, owners of private wells near the military bases should call the EPA's Larry Brown, 215-814-5527, to determine if free testing is being provided in their neighborhood.

Owners of private wells in the Doylestown area can contact the state Department of Environmental Protection to see if testing is available. DEP is currently investigating wells within 1 mile of the contaminated Cross Keys well. Contact information is Joshua Crooks, 484-250-5784, and Lena Harper, 484-250-5721

Some law firms are taking legal action, and seeking out new clients.

It is possible to test your blood for PFOA and PFOS. However, the process is complicated, costly, and some officials argue it may do more harm than good.

Q: WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT THIS?

The military is investigating the extent of the contamination in Horsham, Warminster, Warrington, and possibly surrounding areas. In conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, it is sampling off-base public and private wells, as well as some environmental sites, to ensure people aren't exposed to PFOA and PFOS above the EPA's 70-ppt recommended limit. The sampling also allows the military to find out far the chemicals have traveled in underground water supplies.

The military also is investigating locations on the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base and Horsham Air Guard station for possible contamination and will develop a plan to cleanse those areas. The military maintains groundwater monitoring wells near the site of the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster.

In New Jersey, the military is further behind in its investigation at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, but is sampling on-base and off-base water supplies and soil to try and gain an understanding of how far the chemicals have traveled.

In early July 2016, the Horsham Air Guard Station installed a temporary filtration system to remove the chemicals from that base's wastewater. Previously, the unfiltered chemicals were being discharged to nearby Park Creek from the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority's sewage treatment plant. However, contaminated groundwater from the base is still believed to be entering Park Creek. Base personnel plan to eventually install a filtration system for its lone groundwater well; personnel are consuming bottled water in the meantime.

The military also has agreements with local water authorities to continue monitoring public wells, pay to replace water that is above the EPA's 70 ppt limit, and install filtration systems on tainted wells. Sixteen public wells have received that treatment in Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington.

The Navy is paying to sample water in nearby private wells. Where the chemicals are above the EPA's limit, the military is providing bottled water to homeowners and offering to connect homes to public water systems. About 200 private wells have been affected so far.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating a contaminated well in Doylestown Township. That contamination isn't suspected to have been caused by the military. As of July 2017, the DEP was investigating about 200 wells within a one-mile radius of that contaminated well.

Local water authorities and towns are taking varied action. Some have decided to sample proactively for the unregulated chemicals, while others haven't. Horsham and Warminster have initiated plans to remove the chemicals to below 1 ppt. Other water authorities are abiding by the EPA's 70-ppt limit.

Lawmakers have taken a variety of actions. Governor Tom Wolf has asked the military to fund blood tests for 70,000 residents in Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington. Local congressmen say they're working on legislation to force that funding. One congressmen has called for congressional hearings on the issue. State lawmakers have also pressed the military and EPA to do more.

Q: WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?

At least four law firms have filed suits: Creedon & Feliciani, of Norristown; Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman, of Philadelphia; Weitz & Luxenberg, of New York; and Williams Cuker Berezofsky, of Philadelphia. Court proceedings have not begun, and the cases could ultimately take years to litigate if early settlements aren't reached.

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Pennsylvania Department of Health both said they'd study state cancer data to determine if there are unusually high rates of illness in the affected zip codes around the bases. Resulting analysis so far found some evidence of increased cancer rates in the area but was ultimately deemed inconclusive. More analysis is expected.

Lawmakers and local municipal officials continue to press the military and EPA to do more to cleanse the area of chemicals and provide blood tests to determine if and how residents have been affected. What the federal government does in response will be something to watch; its actions here could become the standard for what takes place in communities potentially affected by other military bases around the nation.

Local towns and water authorities are also deciding what actions to take for their water supplies. Some have decided to sample proactively for the unregulated chemicals, while others have not. Horsham, Warminster and Warrington have initiated plans to remove the chemicals to below 1 ppt. Decisions such as these will likely occur in more communities where low levels of the chemicals have been found.

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